Holy Motors (2012)

From dawn to dusk, a few hours in the shadowy life of Monsieur Oscar...

Director:

Leos Carax

Writer:

Leos Carax (screenplay)

Stars:

Denis Lavant, Edith Scob, Eva Mendes

20 wins & 27 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Denis Lavant	...	M. Oscar / Le Banquier / La Mendiante / L'OS de Motion-Capture / M. Merde / Le Père / L'Accordéoniste / Le Tueur / Le Tué / Le Mourant / L'Homme au Foyer
Edith Scob	...	Céline (as Édith Scob)
Eva Mendes	...	Kay M
Kylie Minogue	...	Eva Grace (Jean)
Elise Lhomeau	...	Léa (Elise)
Jeanne Disson	...	Angèle
Michel Piccoli	...	L'Homme à la tache de vin
Leos Carax	...	Le Dormeur / Voix Limousine (as LC)
Nastya Golubeva Carax	...	La Petite Fille
Reda Oumouzoune	...	L'Acrobate Mo-Cap
Zlata	...	La Cyber-Femme
Geoffrey Carey	...	Le Photographe / Voix Limousine
Annabelle Dexter-Jones	...	L'assistante photographe
Elise Caron
Corinne Yam

Storyline

From dawn to dusk, a few hours in the shadowy life of Monsieur Oscar...

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Plot Keywords:

beggar | sewer | limousine driver | photographer | monkey | 

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

France Germany

Language:

French English Chinese

Release Date:

4 July 2012 (France)

Also Known As:

Sveti motori

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pierre Grise Productions, Théo Films, Pandora Filmproduktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

It was French director Claire Denis who suggested Leos Carax to cast Kylie Minogue for the film.

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Connections

References Eyes Without a Face (1960)

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Soundtracks

"Can't Get You Out of My Head"
Performed by Kylie Minogue
Written by Cathy Dennis and Rob Davis

User Reviews

'Holy Motors' is boring, nonsensical avant-garde hogwash. It's one of the worst films I've seen in a while

The film is a parade of pseudo-intellectual claptrap, a mere montage of disjointed oddity; it has no direction, it just presents the viewer with one weird, meaningless image after another. I derive no positive emotion from a film that relies solely on ambiguous subtext, surrealism and symbolism.

I began to lose faith in the film by the 40 minute mark, each minute after that began to drag severely. Some people have been flabbergasted by the suggestion that it's 'boring', I don't see what's so surprising about that, how can you be engaged by something that's so utterly worthless?

Some people have praised its imagery, waffling on about how it 'celebrates the medium'. I agree it's striking and unconventional, but that's all it is; the best films achieve in both celebrating the medium of film and delivering strong, engaging narratives, whether they're simple or complex. Any idiot can throw together two hours of sheer meaningless oddity and claim it to be 'metaphorical' – it's weak filmmaking.

Even fans of the film have no idea what's going on, however many of them seem to relish mustering up their own vague, self-aggrandising interpretations of it. Although there are those who genuinely enjoy such ambiguity and have an honest approach to analysing the film, there are many that don't.

These are people who are likely to fiercely defend the film; typically, they will patronisingly label the film's critics as ignoramuses who need their narratives to be 'spoon-fed' to them. I cringe to think about the scores of obnoxiously pseudo-intellectual people who will attempt to revel in the utter poppycock that 'Holy Motors' serves by the shovel load. I apologise for such strong language, but it irks me.

This is as bad as avant-garde cinema gets; it's nothing more than an indulgence by Leos Carax.

www.hawkensian.com